Talk:The Covenant
Corbon - Covenant Design Thoughts Buildings required * Smithy * Library * Meeting Hall with kitchen * Armoury * Living Quarters for grogs/covenfolk * Living Quarters for companions? * Living Quarters for Magi? Sanctums/Labs? * Place for the carpenter? (Workshop?) * Shelters for animals? (not where I come from but maybe in this time and place) * Walls/defences? * Gatehouse? * Other? I would forsee all of these with the possible exception of the Magi quarters/labs/sanctums as most likely being on the lowest level of the regio - easiest access, most space, flatest areas, etc. Longinus plans to make himself a tower of his own in a year or two and will be content with relatively spartan quarters as a temporary sanctum in the mean time. Covenant Footprint design Longinus is thinking something along the lines of eventually a series of towers in a loose semi-circle around a central tower. Assuming each Magus wants a tower of his own of course. And a central tower which houses the library in its upper levels, and probably the 'council chambers' and similar in its lower levels. At the base of the library tower, and spread out into the remaining part of the semi circle would be the remaining, mostly mundane, covenant buildings. Possibly, the towers could be linked, to the library if not each other, through high level walkways (gleaming arches?). Ideally the locations would be set so that the 'entrance' view (from the regular mundane-regio entrance point we use) would have the mundane buildings nearest and the wizards towers framing and backdropping the centrally placed library tower. It might even be possible to place the individual wizards towers at suitable loctions to suit the interests of the occupants. So (exemplar only) Ambrosius takes one of the towers nearest the mundane buildings, very near the smithy in fact, while Bedo has a tower placed closer to the temple due to his interest in the potential for researching the arcane work involved their and Phaedrus has the tower furtherest up the hillside for the sake of his bird... Hey, if we are going to have the advantage of a hidden location lets use it - not to mention the additional benefits to hermetic reputation. Naturally, we will need lesser buildings initially, these would later be converted into the common/public/specialised/visitor labs and would be in the 'mundane section but nearest the library. And of course, it may well be that not everyone is particularly interested in having their own tower, not to mention the fact that some may want their labs in, err, odd places. Discussion regarding Corbon's ideas :A good start. Thanks Corbon. Does anyone else have any thoughts about buildings, or other things that need to be constructed? I would suggest that a secure dry, place for your books be amongst the first things constructed, even if it isn't the library proper. :: Some immediate thoughts; There was a version of the cottage in the first regio level also, right? We could make that into an initial base and library, we do not need a high aura to study from books. ::I would like to have a common lab, not part of anyone's sancta, in the covenant. If Longinius plans to make a temporary lab we could make use of that. --SamuelUser talk:Samuel 20:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC) :::Err, given that James has declared Longinus unable to do lab work without an assistant, I assumed he is equally unable to set one up without assistance. Consequently I was not planning for him to set one up at all initially, which fits with his preference for his own tower, to be cast once he has collected the vis. However I agree with the concept of a common lab (possibly two or three actually, eventually, with one specialised in vis gathering as well as common and/or visitor labs.) --Corbonjnl 23:01, 28 December 2006 (UTC) I don't see why you wouldn't be able to set up a lab with the assistance of just a lab assistant. Such an assistant would still provide bonuses to regular labwork as normal, so apart from the fact that it is mandatory, this aspect of the flaw isn't so terrible. :Ahh, the point is that we don't start with any non-magi lab assistants, so anyone who would assist him in setting up a lab could just set it up themselves. No point using two to do the job that one can do. Since he plans to grow his own lab later, and can see plenty of non-lab activities to do for a while, he isn't in a hurry to get a lab set up anyway. Its kind of traditional for magi to spend their first few seasons setting up labs, both their own and 'common' ones. This isn't something that Longinus can profitably assist in at this time though. --Corbonjnl 23:29, 2 January 2007 (UTC) ::Is the smithy a mundane smithy or Ambrosius lab? --SamuelUser talk:Samuel 20:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC) :::I suspect a mundane smithy, since we have a mundane smith listed as covenfolk. However, Ambrosius' lab may be right next door or in the same building even, depending on his own preferences. --Corbonjnl 23:01, 28 December 2006 (UTC) ::::Aye. According to canon, Verditius have forge companions, but they are acquired over time, as the magus's leadership skills develop. Ambrosius would happily share consumables, and help out *from time to time*, but we will need a separate forge for the mundane work. --Tim 20:34, 3 January 2007 (UTC) ::--SamuelUser talk:Samuel 20:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC) :As I'm sure it was mentioned during the IC discussions about the location, I'm going to suggest that some of the mundane buildings should be built outside the regio, between the cottage and the regio boundary. These would provide a 'cover' as to why people come and go from this strange area in the hills without going on beyond it. I'd suggest that this should include living quarters for animals and grogs, as well as the smithy. --OldNick 13:44, 2 January 2007 (UTC) :: That's good, but remember that anyone on the Mynd would be outside of the Aegis of the Hearth (unless you had two). Also, the grog was sold a shepherd's cottage, and presumably the use of a bit of the land thereabouts, but grazing rights across the Mynd and the right to erect more buildings aren't things the Magi have. The Mynd, being unfit for cultivation, is presumably common land where people can graze their animals, but a large herd/flock of animals will draw attention to the shepherd. ::The magi currently have an undercover presence on the real Mynd (or will have once the roof is disguised with a bit of thatch.) ::Another thought is what to do with the mound that was opened up. If it is left open, locals are going to start appearing in the elemental caverns tunnel, and that's not a good thing.--James 16:24, 2 January 2007 (UTC) :::Yes, I agree regarding the Aegis, but would still suggest that at the very least we made something a bit bigger and more self-sustaining than the cottage as a visible yet mundane point of contact out here. It could act as a watch point and an outer defence to the route in. --OldNick 18:13, 2 January 2007 (UTC) ::::I'm not sure. The cottage, with its hidden 'extras' could be made into quite the watch point/outer defence. I don't think the Aegis thing is too much of a worry, but being careful about the 'rights' we have is. --Corbonjnl 23:29, 2 January 2007 (UTC) :::::I think that establishing, embellishing and expanding those rights will be an important part of the duties of our new Priceps, either directly, or by way of delegation. --Tim 20:34, 3 January 2007 (UTC) Of course, you can get permission, by means arcane or mundane, to do a variety of things, but it will mean interacting with the locals. Houses are generally built in a low, sheltered spot. The original cottage was not the primary residence of the shepherd, but somewhere that was in use during the summer months, much like the small dwelling up on the side of Caer Caradoc. The Portway over the Mynd is a route used by travellers, including farmers taking livestock to market. It is up and away from the Stretton Vale, so the principle concern regarding the sending of supplies into the regio is that a mundane person might observe someone fading away into nothing - not so much a problem at night though. I would suggest building the covenant not far from the boundary of the regio layer it dwells within. If it is on the second layer, I would place it fairly near the two unexplored regio boundary zones so that they may be watched over easily, and if useful, exploited easily. One note about construction... dressed stone is a valuable commodity so any building featuring more than a nice door arch is going to make you appear wealthy. The barrel vault roof on the shepherd's cottage does have the added bonus that a second stone level can be added to the building in the future, if desired. --James 05:46, 3 January 2007 (UTC) On more general notes: Corbon, you are using the term "tower" in a generic sense, right? To indicate the building in which our sanctum and/or lab is housed? I've been dwelling on this, but not sure how to approach it - Ambrosius will want his lab on the highest reachable aura level. This means that it will be outside the protection of the AotH, but that can't be helped, unless it turns out that we have Vis income enough to cast it twice a year. Ambrosius has been considering some trans-locational doors (which are *WAY* beyond his ability at this time) that will be of use in the future, but for now, he is content to hoof it back to the main covenant complex when his presence is required. James Princeps Vote Right, where do we stand on the Princeps vote? Marcus - Nominated and seconded. Mnemosyne - Nominated, but withdrawn (rather, will be when Pericles has an opportunity to write it?). Longinus - Withdrawn (actually, this is not official, just something he has made clear in conversations with Mnemosyne). Ambrosius - Withdrawn. Bedo - Hasn't been nominated, so will support either one of the two who has been quite happily. Phaedrus - Is convinced Marcus will do a better job for the time being, and would rather spend his energy building than negotiating. It falls then, to Marcus to be Princeps. We will have to write this up properly at a later date, but it should be fairly quick and painless. If the position of Princeps suddenly becomes terribly interesting at a later stage, then we can hold a fresh election under whatever conditions are laid down in the final charter. ---- Covenants in other sagas *Covenant of Saxum Caribetum - A covenant with similarities to Durenmar. Tower and small huts. *Covenant of Vallis Vespertalio - A covenant built around the use of towers. Poor. *Prospectus Locus - Not really a map of the covenant, but the surroundings.